News

San Francisco bans facial recognition technology

May 15, 2019

San Francisco has officially banned facial recognition technology. The Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted 8-1 to approve the ban, according to a report by The New York Times.

"I think part of San Francisco being the real and perceived headquarters for all things tech also comes with a responsibility for its local legislators," Aaron Peskin, a city supervisor who sponsored the bill, told the Times. "We have an outsize responsibility to regulate the excesses of technology precisely because they are headquartered here."

The police force in San Francisco does not use facial recognition technology to identify suspects. However, Annapolis, Maryland used facial recognition technology to identify a mass shooter in June 2018 who attacked The Capital Gazette and killed five people.